In a study published by The Lancet Public Health, it was shown that the period of confinement would have led to a 30% reduction in hospitalizations for heart attacks in France. Fear, reduced stress and reduced pollution could explain this phenomenon.
Hospitalizations for heart attacks have fallen by 30% in France
According to a study carried out by a team of French researchers and published in the journal The Lancet Public Health this Tuesday, September 22, a 30% decrease in hospitalizations for heart attacks was observed between the four weeks preceding confinement and the four following weeks.
To obtain this result, the scientists relied on the FRENCHIE (French Cohort of Myocardial Infarction Evaluation) register, which collects follow-up information for patients suffering from a heart attack. The study is based on data from 21 hospitals spread across France. Result: the number of admissions for myocardial infarction fell from 686 patients before confinement to 481 afterwards. That is to say a decrease between 25 and 35% according to the types of infarction.
Several hypotheses …
To explain this decline, one of the main hypotheses mentioned in the study is fear. Indeed, during confinement, many French people stayed at home and did not go to the hospital for fear of catching Covid-19, of not being treated or for fear of disturbing the nursing staff already overwhelmed by the epidemic.
According to Nicolas Danchin, cardiologist at the Georges-Pompidou European hospital and study coordinator, other hypotheses inherent in confinement could explain this drop in hospitalization: ” The other hypotheses are that there has really been a drop in the occurrence of myocardial infarction, and not just hospitalizations for infarction because people were confined, at home, therefore no longer made violent efforts. There may have been less work stress for some people “. To which he added: ” There was also, and this was observed very quickly after the start of confinement, a decrease in pollution: we know that air pollution can trigger myocardial infarctions. “.
An observation made across the country and elsewhere in the world
Conducted in 21 hospitals in different regions, the study reveals the same drop everywhere in France, regardless of the situation of the territories concerned during the epidemic. In other words, the situation is identical in regions heavily affected by Covid-19 as in those which have been less impacted.
Beyond borders, other studies conducted in the United States, Italy and Spain have reported the same observation, with decreases in hospitalization for heart attacks ranging from 20 to 50% over the same period.
